August 28, 2024 // Bishop

Bishop Rhoades Shares Synod Experiences with Seminarians, MDivs

Kasia Balsbaugh

The University of Notre Dame’s Master of Divinity students (also known as “MDivs”) and the Holy Cross seminarians began their academic year with Mass and dinner with Bishop Rhoades on Friday, August 23. During dinner, Bishop Rhoades shared his experiences and thoughts about the ongoing Synod of Bishops on synodality.

Holy Cross Father Jim Gallagher, Superior and Rector of Moreau Seminary, hosted the evening.

“Having our Holy Cross men in formation studying alongside lay men and women in the Master of Divinity at Notre Dame provides a firm foundation for them in the needed work of collaborating for the sake of the good of the Church,” Father Gallagher said. “The bishop sharing about his experience with the synod provided strong affirmation of the importance of co-responsibility as well as the need to steward well the rich treasures of the Church.”  

Bishop Rhoades shared stories from his day-to-day work during the synod in Rome last October, from the iPads used for voting, to the friendships he formed in his Spanish-speaking small group, to prayer with bishops from the Middle East when the war in Gaza broke out. One highlight Bishop Rhoades mentioned was learning from other bishops from around the world, and vice versa, as some foreign delegates, he said, told him that they had had “erroneous” ideas about the Church in the United States before meeting him.

Nohemi Toledo, a lay Master of Divinity student entering her first year of study, appreciated how the discussion with Bishop Rhoades helped her better envision the synod, which began with the first session last October and will continue with a second and final session next month.

“I thought that it was good to hear how the day to day went, and how the layout of the synod was,” Toledo said. “This helps better understand how decisions were made and conclusions of comments and concerns.”

Bishop Rhoades also shared what the delegates learned from the first session – and how things will be different this year. For instance, more input from parish priests will be incorporated (a “weak area” from last year). Additionally, Pope Francis has formed several study groups for important issues (such as the role of papal representatives) that arose during discussion, so that this year’s synod discussions can focus on the main topic of synodality. As Bishop Rhoades put it, the main discussions are to be about “this way of walking together as a pilgrim people, as brothers and sisters in Christ throughout the world, how to be a synodal Church in mission. That’s the theme of this October.”

The synodal process is a “circular” one with plenty of listening and discernment, as the bishops and parishes are in dialogue with one another throughout. Bishop Rhoades stressed that while the synod’s instrumentum laboris (working document) has come a long way from its first draft, it could still go deeper into the truths of our faith – a fact on which Bishop Rhoades and several theologians at the University of Notre Dame agree. And the constructive criticism is encouraged by Pope Francis and others, Bishop Rhoades said.

As Bishop Rhoades said of the document and the synodal approach of which it treats, “There is a way at this point where this can be manipulated – something that could be very good and very beautiful and very helpful – if there aren’t the proper safeguards, if there isn’t a strong rootedness in belief in the special gift of the Holy Spirit upon the magisterium to guard the deposit of faith, that everything can’t be open for discussion and we have to be faithful to the word of God.”

Bishop Rhoades again stressed that the synodal approach is very helpful pastorally, but he gets nervous when people try to apply it in areas of doctrine.

“I want to see the synodal approach in our parishes, in our diocese,” Bishop Rhoades said. “I believe, at the same time … that we have to be careful that it not be manipulated for political purposes or people’s agendas.”

Also, Bishop Rhoades warned those in the room to be careful about portrayals of the synod on social media, many of which he characterized as “unfair.”

“There were some voices in the synod that were out there on the far right or the far left – they were so small,” Bishop Rhoades said. “Most of the great majority are men and women of the Church who really love the Lord.”

First-year MDiv Shea Nowicki shared how the evening affected her, saying: “As I begin the process of formation for lay ecclesial ministry in the Church, I want to take this synodal vision to heart by listening, discerning the Spirit’s promptings in every encounter. … The bishop’s talk was especially helpful in laying a foundation for my first year in the MDiv program.”

When one of the students asked him how to speak to others of the hope of the synod, Bishop Rhoades responded: “Try to get across the idea that we are pilgrims together on a journey, and their voice matters, their participation matters. … I think that’s really important, the call of all baptized to mission.”